Radio Front Desk
Radio Front Desk is a podcast that talks to real people in real clinics about what it takes to build a health and wellness business.
Host Denzil Ford, Editor-in-Chief of Front Desk magazine, digs into the inspiring stories of folks building their practices from the ground up — including what works, what hasn’t, and everything in between.
Created by the team at Jane App, this podcast is your source for discovering fresh ideas and proven strategies for clinic life. Join us on this journey of building a practice you love.
Radio Front Desk
Do you find it hard to delegate?
This week on the podcast, we’re chatting about a real challenge of becoming a leader: how stepping back is actually really hard.
Sharing personal insights and lessons from her growth coach Melody, Denzil opens up about the fears and resistance that can come with delegation and letting go. She explores how reframing resistance can help make the leap into leadership a little easier.
Whether you’re leading a team or preparing to take that next step, this episode has something to take away.
Have your own leadership story? We’d love to hear it! Send us an email and join the conversation.
And, if you’d like to get the Letter from the Editor delivered straight to your inbox each week, be sure to sign up for the written newsletter.
Oh hi, it's me, denzel. You've heard that business advice before If you want to grow, just automate or outsource your tasks. And sure, this advice isn't wrong, but it glazes over something that many of us experience Taking things off your plate is actually really, really hard. I know this because I've always been a doer. I'm the kind of person who double checks everything, keeps an eye on all the details and gets a little dopamine hit from checking tasks off the list. And for a long time it was staying hands-on. That made me feel valuable and productive.
Speaker 1:But when I stepped into a leadership role, something shifted. I had to trade my to-do list for delegation and trust other people to do the work that I had owned myself, and that really wasn't easy for me. I'll be the first to say I was resistant to change. I was even resistant to being told I was resistant to change. But when I talked to my growth coach, melody, about this in our early conversations, she asked me a question that has really stuck with me. She said how is showing up like that working for you? And then it hit me. I wasn't just holding on, I was afraid of letting go. I was afraid that the systems I had worked so hard to build would break or that the work just wouldn't be the same. Honestly, I was afraid I wouldn't feel well needed. Trust me, stepping back doesn't happen overnight.
Speaker 1:But over my time with Melody I learned a few things that helped me feel a little more comfortable with leadership, and if you're going through something similar, they might help you too. The first thing I'd suggest is to know when to hold on and when to step back. One of the strategies that helped me the most was learning how to hold on to what and why or I guess you could say the mission and the outcomes but then stepping back from the how. Everyone has their own creative way of approaching problems, so as long as you can ensure the purpose stays intact, it's better for everyone if you can create space for your team to have autonomy.
Speaker 1:Next, try shifting from protection to preparation. I originally viewed leadership as protecting the work my team and I had built, but I realized that mindset was actually limiting us. So instead I started to focus my energy on preparing my team to adapt to the challenges and find their own solutions, and this ended up helping us quite a bit during times of change and uncertainty, and this ended up helping us quite a bit during times of change and uncertainty. And finally, try reframing any resistance you have. When you're resisting something new, start by asking yourself why am I resisting?
Speaker 1:Often, the resistance is rooted in fear Fear of losing control, fear of failure. You know the classics, but the fear won't magically disappear unless it's addressed head on. To do this, melody got me to reflect on myself and try to identify the real reason I was resistant to change. For me, this was way more effective than just being told to change, because it allowed me to understand why I was feeling the resistance in the first place. Moving from being a doer to a leader is a big shift, so if you have done this, I'd love to know your experience and what it was like. I'm all ears, so go ahead and shoot me a reply at frontdesk at janeapp. Well, that's all for me. Thanks for listening, and if you're taking the leap into leadership, you got this.